The present invention relates to an improvement in the method used to cut and plant seed potatoes during spring planting. More specifically, to a method of cutting the seed potatoes prior to their planting in a manner that ensures that the cut potatoes will not be contaminated due to the possible presence of bacteria and other pathogens that are common to and create problems in potato crops.
It is well known to cut and size seed potatoes in a variety of ways prior to planting. In the past seed potatoes have often been cut by hand with a common knife prior to planting. In the last twenty years large automatic seed cutters which still use a blade to cut potatoes have gained in popularity. One of the issues with the use of a blade to cut seed potatoes has been the spread of disease from one potato to the next. When a blade cuts a potato that is diseased and is subsequently used again without cleaning, the disease may be spread to the next few potatoes that are cut. One solution to this has been the use of chemicals such as a bleach solution which may be used to clean the knife blade between cuttings. Although this practice can be effective if done properly this practice is both time consuming and can be unreliable if the blade is not cleaned thoroughly. Further, the use of a cleaning solution is not practical with most large seed cutting apparatus and may only be effective when cutting seed by hand.
From this discussion it can be seen that it be desirable to find a method of cutting potatoes with a large commercial cutter and sorter that prevents the spread of disease from one piece of cut seed potato to the next.